Average human running speed

16Dec06

Have you ever wonder how fast human can run? I googled a bit for “average human running speed” and, obviously, got various replies. So I turned to my exercise records.

In average, it took me 40 minutes to cover my 4 km track, non-stop. Means that my running speed is about 6 km/hr. Not a record to be proud of, I know. If Kenenisa Bekele (holders of world record for 5km long-distance run) were to run my lap, it would take him a little less than 10 minutes to finish, based on his best record (5 km in 12 minutes 37 s). Taking rough counts, his average speed is about 25 km/hr.

Taking pesimistic point of view by considering my speed as the lowest limit (unless you are slower than me), average human (male) running speed is between 6 – 25 km/hr.

This approach defies all statistical principles so the conclusion is, put it simple, bunk. :)

I find it hilarious that you decide to glorify the utterly useless and obsolete imperial units by saying “This is America”, when in fact all of those units that Americans use so patriotically were invented a the whims of British kings. For instance, the yard was introduced when Henry VIII (I’m not sure if it actually was the VIII, but that is irrelevant) decided to measure the distance from his nose to his hand and made that the official unit for distance. Also, the “foot” was in fact the length of some other king’s step. Even Britain abandoned these units, does that tell you something?

Well. you did a great job. but i don’t think that you can run at your top speed for 4km. try running your top speed and as soon as you feel a bit tired stop. see how much time it took you to run the distance you cut. that would be your top speed. as for the 4km i think that is your jogging speed.
Thanks a lot anyway.

I was almostcouldnt read or speak English before, but thanks to blogs like yours get a B! (Which is very awesome for me :), and yes I am in France -rolleyes-) And hey, if you want to see my writing skills could you please visit my blog Runescape Hacks

J-Rike, you have a truck with a gunrack in the back, don’t you? It was annoying when the world changed to metric because it meant learning a new system. However it’s a system that makes more sense. Unfortunate the States thought the American people weren’t intelligent enough to learn. I guess that’s why the American public school system ranks lower than many 2nd and even 3rd world countries. Sad. Non-stop running is more difficult than running 1K and multiplying it by 4. Happy you are all running! I sure miss inches when you talk shoe sizes…

I disagree with defying statistical principles! An average requires 2 numbers – which you have. The human walking speed is 4-6km/hr, which means a 6km/hr run is the slowest. You also have the fastest speed of 25km/hr (which is roughly about the same as my Yaris). So you have the highest and lowest values right there! Assuming a normal distribution, that gives an average human running speed of 15.5km/hr. Which is, in fact, the average human running speed as stated by the Internet.
See, your stats were just fine :)